Spindle for door-knobs



ORRIN NEWTON, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPINDLE FOR DOOR-KNOBS.

Specification of Letters Patent No.`17,887, dated July 28, 1857.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORRIN NEWTON, of Pittsburgh, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Imrovement in the Construction of Knobs or pindles for Locks or Doors; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing, formingpart of this speciiication, and to the letters of reference markedthereon.

My im rovement consists in connecting the spin e attached to and formingart of one of the knobs of the door or lock andle by means of a keyforming no part of the lock and placed outside of the door or lock,which, passing through the short shank of the other knob (made hollow toreceive the spindle), enters one of a series of notches in one side ofthe spindle, thus locking them together, these notches in the spindlebeing placed their own Width apart on opposite sides of the spindle toadmit of adjusting the handle to the various thickness of doors byturning the handle half around. This mode of fastening is not only muchmore firm and secure than any now in use, but being entirely independentof any connection with the lock itself, is not liable to get out oforder, and may be applied to handles of doors Where no locks are used.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a erspective view of a pair of doorknobs and t eir spindle connected by means of my improvement, the circleplates being removed. Fig. 2 represents a sectional view of the same,showing the mode of attachment and the position and use of the circleplate. Fig. 3 is a representation of the key used to connect the spindleand shank. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the spindle. Fig. 5 is asectional view of the shank and its knob. Fig. 6 is a re resentation ofthe circleplate.

Lin the several gures like etters of reference apply to similar parts.

A, A are the knobs or handles. To A is attached the spindleB, which is astraight square piece of iron of suflicient length to pass through doorsof ordinary thickness, and box locks, and enter the shank of the otherknob.

C is the shank, attached to the handle A.

The shank O has a square hole passing through its center some distanceinto the knob A. This square hole is designed to receive the spindle B,which is made to it snugly into it. On opposite corners of the spindleB, toward its extremity, which enters into the shank C, are cut notchesi, t', i, &c., of the width of the key D and of suflicient depth for thekey to fasten securely into them. These notches, though on oppositeangles of the spindle, are placed alternately, so that a notch on oneside is placed in juxtaposition to the space between two notches on theother side. These notches are cut on the spindle at right angles to theaxis of the spindle (and not. at an inclination to the axis or formingparts of an intermitting screw, which would cause the key to work loosein its notches by the constant turning of the handles). On each side ofthe shank O is cut a groove, the groove d on one side being cut at rightangles to the axis of the shank to a sufficient de th to penetrate thecavity in the shank, w ile' the groove c, exactly opposite to the grooved, is also at right angles to the axis of the shank, but is not cut sodeep as to enter the cavity. Each of these grooves is exactly the widthof the key D and of the notches fi, i, &c., in the spindle B.

The key D (see Fig. 3) is a circular disk of metal about lg inch thickand of the same width exactly as the notches t, i, in the spindle, andgrooves d, e, in vthe shank. A slot fis made in the key, of such a widthas to be placed astride the spindle B, with one side in one of thegrooves i, and the other outside of the opposite blank space on thespindle. This slot f, is cut a little to one side of the center of thekey and extends so far past the center in its length that the key whenin place will be concentric with the axis of the spindle B, and shank C.

The rose or circle plate E is of any usual shape or pattern, the onlydifference being that a circular depression K of the diameter andthickness of the key H is made on its under side, around the centralhole through which the shank passes for the urpose of covering up thekey D, and al owing the circle plate to be secured'close to the door. Italso prevents the key H from slipping out of place or becoming loose bythe frequent turning of the handles.

Having thus described the several parts,

it remains to eXplain their connection, use and o eration.

If t ere is an outside lock on the door, the handle A is placed on thelock side, so that the circle plate E, covering the key D, may bescrewed to the door on the opposite side. The spindle B, being passedthrough the door with the notches projecting on the opposite side of thedoor, the shank C is placed on it, the extremity of the spindle Bentering the square cavity in the shank C. The shank C being pressedagainst the door, the deep groove d will be found to correspond nearlyenough for all practical purposes, either with a notch t" in the spindleor with a sharp corner of the spindle, the space between two notches. Ifthe latter is the case, the shank is taken off and turned half aroundand then the deep groove d will be found to corres ond with a notch i.The key D is then sipped on to the shank astride of it, the fuller sideof the key, marked 7L in Fig. 3, being placed in the deep groove d, andthe narrower side g of the key into the shallow groove e. Then, asbefore stated, the circular key is exactly concentric with the shank andspindle, and as the deep groove d enters the cavity in the shank C (seeFigs. 2 and 5) it also enters the notch t" opposite to the groove d,thus securely connecting the spindle to the shank and both to the door.The under face of the key D rests against the door, but does not in anyway prevent the free turning of the handles. Lest the key should slipfrom its place or be removed by design or accident, the rose or circleplate E (previously slipped over the shank C) is screwed to the door,the circular cavity or depression K receiving the key D and cov-V eringit from view.

From the description just given it will be clear that this mode ofattaching handles to doors is equally applicable where there is no lockused, and should greater eXactness be required than is attained bycutting grooves on the spindle on two opposite corners additionalgrooves may be cut on the two other corners or angles of the spindleintermediate to the other grooves and alternating as before described,as shown in Fig. 4. By this arrangement if the grooves are inch thickthe handles might be adjusted to an eXact fit for every variation in thethickness of the door of of an inch, a greater degree of eX- actnessthan is necessary for practical purposes. This construction andarrangement has great advantages over any mode of fastening andconnecting the spindle and shank of door knobs, not the least of whichis its great simplicity and freedom from liability to get out of orderand its being entirely disconnected from the interior arrangement of thelock.

I do not claim as new the use of notches in the spindle, nor the use ofa key to connect the spindle and shank, but

What I do claim as my invention and de- I sire to secure by LettersPatent is- The arrangement of the notches on the spindle of the doorknob in alternate posi tions on opposite corners or angles of thesquared spindle, in combination with the key, constructed as described,and the deep and shallow grooves in the shank, together with thedepression in the circle plate to keep the key in place, for the purposeof adjusting the length of the spindle of the door knobs to differentthickness of doors, by gradations sufficiently minute to answer allpractical purposes, and for other purposes hereinbefore set forth,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day ofFebruary A. D. 1856.

ORRIN NEWTON.

